Israel and Lebanon prolong truce amid stalled Iranian negotiations for peace

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend their fragile ceasefire by three weeks, despite recent hostilities and ongoing tensions in the region.

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The extension was revealed as Trump met with ambassadors from both countries, and comes as the US remains stalled in negotiations with Iran to bring an end to the Middle East war, with the initial truce having been set to expire on Sunday.

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Trump expressed optimism about the prospects for peace, telling reporters "I think there's a very good chance of having peace, I think it should be an easy one", although he also warned that "the clock is ticking" for Iran.

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A third American aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, has arrived in the Middle East, bringing the total number of US warships in the region to three, with two operating in the Red Sea and the other in the region, according to US Central Command.

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Iranian media reported blasts over the capital Tehran, the first such incident since the ceasefire came into effect two weeks ago, although the cause of the explosions is unclear, with an Israeli security source denying any involvement.

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Prospective peace talks in Pakistan are hanging in the balance, with no sign of a return to diplomacy to end the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed in retaliation for the war, with the US and Iran shifting their focus to the strategic waterway.

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Trump has ruled out the use of a nuclear weapon against Iran, but has ordered the US Navy to destroy any Iranian boat caught laying mines in the Hormuz, saying "I have all the time in the World, but Iran doesn't — The clock is ticking!", and also ordered the US Navy to "shoot and kill" any boat putting mines in the waters.

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Iran's state news agency IRNA reported the "sound of air defence firing" in western Tehran, while the Mehr news agency said air defence systems were activated in several parts of the capital to counter "hostile targets", as US forces boarded a vessel in the Indian Ocean transporting oil from Iran.

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Iran has vowed to keep the strait closed to all but a trickle of approved vessels for as long as the US Navy blockades its ports, with the US imposing its own blockade of Iranian ports, and US forces carrying out a maritime interdiction and boarding of the sanctioned stateless vessel M/T Majestic X.

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Deputy parliament speaker Hamidreza Hajibabaei announced that Iran has received its first revenue from tolls imposed on ships seeking to cross the Hormuz, as the country's leadership posted a unified message on social media, saying "One God, one nation, one leader, and one path; that path being the path to the victory of our dearer-than-life Iran".

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Trump suggested that Iranian leadership is "seriously fractured", but the Islamic republic's president, parliament speaker, and chief justice all posted a nearly identical message on social media, while supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei's account took aim at "the enemy's media operations" seeking to undermine unity and national security.

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Trump told the New York Post that talks could resume in Pakistan within two to three days, although no delegations are currently headed to Islamabad, with blanket security remaining in place in the Pakistani capital for the fourth straight day in anticipation of possible talks.

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Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they forced two ships to the Iranian shore from the Strait of Hormuz, while US Central Command said its forces have "redirected 33 vessels since the start of the blockade against Iran", as European leaders prepare to meet with counterparts from Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan for "intensive dialogue" on the strait's closure.